INVITRO ACTIVITIES OF VANCOMYCIN AND TEICOPLANIN AGAINST COAGULASE-NEGATIVE STAPHYLOCOCCI ISOLATED FROM NEUTROPENIC PATIENTS

This study reports the in vitro activities of vancomycin and teicoplanin against 185 coagulase-negative staphylococcal strains isolated from 80 neutropenic patients who received different antibiotic treatments. All strains were susceptible to vancomycin: MICs for 50 and 90% of strains tested were 2 and 4 mg/liter, respectively. Teicoplanin was less active, and MICs displayed a wider range. For only teicoplanin was there a correlation between resistance and previous treatment. At the 4- and 32-mg/liter breakpoint levels, only 20% of the strains isolated from patients without glycopeptide treatment were intermediate or resistant, whereas 49.2% of the strains from patients who had received vancomycin or teicoplanin or both were intermediate or resistant.